Malcolm has been writing about race and policing for a very long time, going back to the killing of Amadou Diallo in 1999. Sometimes, it is useful to take a step back and consider policing in a broader context. Here we present a chapter from Malcolm's book David and Goliath, which includes an analysis of a riot in Northern Ireland in 1970. Many miles and many years away. About divisions of religion and class and not divisions of race. But the core questions to be asked in 1970 and 1999 and today are the same: if you have power, what does it mean to use it, and use it wisely? And what are the consequences if you don't?
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants was published in 2013 by Little, Brown and Company. Audiobook production by Hachette Audio.
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Nick Lowe wrote the classic "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" (made famous by Elvis Costello), produced one of the UK's first punk records ("New Rose" by the Damned), and started one of the great independent record labels (Stiff Records). In this episode Bruce Headlam talks to him about producing the first five Elvis Costello records, marrying into Johnny Cash's family and his hilarious first encounter with the great Keith Richards.
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Jason Isbell is one of the most important Southern voices in music today. He started writing and releasing his own songs in 2007, after a stint with the Drive By Truckers. Since then has slowly built a catalogue of songs and a resume—which includes a key songwriting contribution to Bradley Cooper's version of A Star Is Born—that should put him on anyone's short list of the best songwriters currently working. Isbell and Rick Rubin met for the first time just before this conversation where they discuss Isbell's recovery from addiction, his song writing process and his deep Southern roots.
To checkout Jason Isbell's new album Reunions head to https://orcd.co/reunions
You can also listen to past—often extended—episodes of Broken Record by subscribing to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/brokenrecordpodcast
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Previewing the first episode of Against the Rules Season 2 by Michael Lewis (Moneyball, The Big Short, The Blind Side):
It wasn’t that long ago that coaches were confined to sports. Now they’re everywhere. You can hire a life coach or a death coach, an executive coach, a dating coach, even a charisma coach. Journalist and bestselling author Michael Lewis asks who’s getting all this coaching, and who isn’t? Lewis brings his wry wit and mastery of storytelling to topics as diverse as sports, consumer finance, college, and firefighting — to understand what the rise of coaching means for all of us.In a seven-episode season, Against the Rules takes listeners from the home of a single mom in the mountains of Colorado, the classrooms of the Harvard Business School, to a data-driven “Bionic Man” facility for baseball pitchers. He speaks with a celebrity voice coach, an analyst who grades sales calls, and a startup founder who's coaching consumers out of credit-card debt. Along the way, he also revisits the controversial methods of his own high-school baseball coach. Through conversations both amusing and horrifying, Lewis explores the rise of coaching in America and what it says about unfairness.
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Rick Rubin talks to Tame Impala's Kevin Parker about his newest release, The Slow Rush, and his creative process. Kevin shares key influences on some Tame Impala songs and also plays Rick a demo for an unrealized song from his voice memos. Then Kevin turns the tables on Rick, asking about his work on Californication and Yeezus, which yields sage advice on record making.
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Drive-By Truckers play music from and talk about their twelfth album, The Unraveling. The band of Alabamans—represented here by Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood—discuss how the political climate shaped the themes of their latest record.
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XL Recordings has released music from Adele, Tyler the Creator, MIA, Dizzee Rascal, Radiohead, The White Stripes, King Krule and many other beloved, boundary-pushing artists. Richard Russell has been with the label since its early days and at the helm since '96. He talks with Rick Rubin about the origin of their friendship, which dates back to the earliest days of XL, and how the label grew from a small electronic label into the greatest Indie of all time. Russell also talks about his career as a producer, which includes the last albums of both Gil Scott-Heron and Bobby Womack.
Richard Russell has a new album out under his moniker Everything Is Recorded, you can check it out here: https://xlrecordings.com/buy/everythingisrecorded-fridayforever
And to get his newly released book with traces the history of XL Recordings head to https://www.hachette.com.au/richard-russell/liberation-through-hearing.
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Rick Rubin, like all of us, has been thinking a lot about fear lately. And few people on the planet understand fear in the same way that Rick's good friend, David Blaine, does. David has made a career of pushing his mind and body to the limit. So Rick thought David might be a great person to talk to about facing fear. Ok obviously this conversation isn’t about music. But it does touch on one of Rick’s other great loves—magic. When he was a kid, Rick studied magic. Since then magic has become so much more than sleight of hand for him … he uses the idea of pulling something out of nothing when he’s making music. So it makes sense that he would turn to one of the best living magicians for words of wisdom.
To check out David Blaine's latest special visit: https://abc.com/movies-and-specials/david-blaine-the-magic-way
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Alicia Keys talks with Malcolm Gladwell via Zoom about her newly released book, More Myself: A Journey and how writing it influenced her upcoming album, Alicia.
You can order her book at https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/alicia-keys/.
And to find out more about her upcoming album (and tour) you can visit https://alicia.aliciakeys.com/.
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Rick Rubin talks with his friend, world-renowned Buddhist and meditation teacher, Jack Kornfield. He's long been one of the most influential figures in American Buddhism.
He connects with Rick by Zoom to guide him and you through a couple of different guided meditations. A gift for these stressful times.
You can find the first of those meditations at 8:00 and the second meditation at 42:32.
And if you're interested in learning more about meditation or Jack's work you can visit https://jackkornfield.com/
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Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, and star of the movie Once, talks to Bruce Headlam about his newest solo album, "This Wild Willing" and how he nearly sampled a Queen and David Bowie jam unwittingly.
Find the playlist for this episode at https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/.
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During these tough times, Rick Rubin wanted to have a chat with an artist he finds inspiring. Top of mind was John Legend. So he called him up via Zoom, while both were sheltering in place, for a quick chat about his career and the creative process behind two of his biggest songs. Plus they discuss the song Legend is currently obsessed with. This is our first remote recording, so it's a little shorter and a little more lo-fi than usual.
Make sure to listen to John Legend's new single "Actions" and check for a new album later this year: https://open.spotify.com/track/0KGgFs3yJ1aHGnEU8nHCqR?si=3Q_Er2R7T1WQk_W8L1g1tg
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Nathaniel Rateliff talks to Bruce Headlam about his new solo album, And It’s Still Alright, a deeply intimate project that reflects on the loss of his former producer and good friend Richard Swift. Nathaniel plays songs off his new record and recounts his journey as a musician, starting with his family’s gospel band up until his recent success as the frontman of the critically-acclaimed group, The Nightsweats.
Nathaniel Rateliff made an awesome playlist of his favorite songs you can listen to here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5MlFYjnJ2R3UMQ2LM3wnLp?si=n_tNYUOSTDmCuqAjbGPMAQ
To see about when you can catch him on the road head to https://www.nathanielrateliff.com/tour.
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The Grateful Dead's Bob Weir talks to Rick Rubin about why the legendary band was never focused on their studio recordings, and how they were always more interested in seeing where their live shows would take them. Bob also plays a new song from an opera he's writing and tells Rick about a recent dream where he and Jerry Garcia performed a new song that materialized into a room-sized sheep dog.
Bob Weir's Jug Band Playlist &amp; our favorite Weir songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6K125dakokqmpvIriLONID?si=pP98EJwVTXCaYF_xJF7ezQ
Check for updates to Bob's touring schedule here: https://bobweir.net/#!/events?page=1
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Bassist, songwriter, and composer Esperanza Spalding sits with Bruce Headlam to discuss her latest work and the opera she’s writing with the legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter. They also discuss why Esperanza shies away from being labeled a prodigy, what it’s like jamming at Joni Mitchell's house, and how, despite her improvisational approach, she’s so much more than just a jazz musician.
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Run the Jewels recently took a (smoke) break while working on their fourth album at Shangri-La and taped this podcast with Rick Rubin. Killer Mike and El-P tell Rick about the music that first caught their imaginations as kids, how Run-DMC inspired their philosophy as a group, and who would be the court jester—and who would be a tribe leader—in their post-apocalyptic fantasy world.
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James Taylor's voice sounds sweet and carefree. It's a gift that hides the darker side to his lyrics and life. He and Malcolm Gladwell sat and uncovered some of the more troubling moments from his early life in this conversation. James also talks about it in his audio memoir, Break Shot, available now through Audible.
They also discuss the beach music scene of the Carolinas and the music that got James interested in music. Some of those tunes are represented on his new album, American Standard. Where James reworks classics of the great American songbook.
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RUN DMC were the first rap group on the cover of Rolling Stone. The first to go gold, platinum and multi-platinum. They were true pioneers of Hip Hop in the 80’s, releasing classic albums like “Raising Hell” and “Tougher Than Leather” — both collaborations with Rick Rubin. But by the 90s Hip Hop and changed. RUN DMC were struggling to find their way and so was Darryl “DMC” McDaniels. The self-proclaimed "King of Rock" tells Rick that at one point, the only thing giving him the will to live, was a Sarah McLachlan song.
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When Robbie Robertson turned a house perched above a Malibu beach into a home studio in the 1970's, he had no idea it'd remain a refuge for artists decades later. In this episode, Robbie returns to Shangri La—now the home of our own Rick Rubin—to discuss creating the studio, helping Bob Dylan go electric with The Band, writing "The Weight" and collaborating with Martin Scorsese on his films.
"Once Were Brothers" a documentary about The Band, comes out in theaters on February 21st. Visit https://www.oncewerebrothers.com/ to see where you can catch it.
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Just before the release of his first solo album in over a decade, Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon sat with Rick Rubin to talk about his tumultuous career that's spanned five decades. Friends since the early '80s, they discuss the early days of Black Sabbath, Ozzy's first encounter with his late guitarist Randy Rhoads, and how blown away Rick is by the power of Ozzy's voice at 71 years old.
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Booker T. Jones—as leader of Booker T. &amp; the M.G.'s, Stax record's house band—helped popularize the sound of Southern soul music. Working alongside Stax legends like Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Albert King and more, his finger prints were everywhere. He details it all in his new book "Time Is Tight: My Life, Note By Note." He sat with Bruce Headlam in Brooklyn to discuss his time at Stax, including some of the great songs he had a hand in writing, and about his incredible career after leaving the label.
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Broken Record brings you Season 3, Episode 2 of the podcast Slow Burn. Season 3 is focused on the murders of rap legends Tupac and Biggie. This episode of the series dissects a time in the 1990s when rappers pushed America to confront police brutality—and police claimed rap lyrics were turning black listeners into cop-killers.
Listen to more of this season and series at https://slate.com/podcasts/slow-burn/s3/biggie-and-tupac
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Broken Record presents an episode of "Cautionary Tales": Bowie, Jazz and the Unplayable Piano
It was the biggest concert of Keith Jarrett's career - but the pianist was in for a shock when he entered Koln's opera house. The only piano at the venue was a broken-down wreck. Should he risk humiliation and play anyway or simply walk out? The collaboration between pop superstar David Bowie and arch disruptor Brian Eno offers a lesson that staying in your comfort zone isn't always the best option.
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Lead singer of the Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard, talks to Rick Rubin about making her first solo album, Jamie. She shares a never before heard demo from the album and talks about her high school band days, The Shakes first live show, and how she's overcome serious bouts of writer's block with just about every project she's ever released.
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Andre 3000 opens up to Rick Rubin in one of his most candid interviews ever. He talks about the early days of OutKast, how he first found his voice, how his mental health diagnosis has been both a blessing a curse, why it’s so hard for him to write new material, and why he would rather perform at flea markets these days than sold-out arenas.
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Justin Vernon and producer Chris Messina from Bon Iver, discuss the new album "i,i" with Rick Rubin. Listen as they bond over their love for remote recording spaces, the importance of self care while making music, Justin’s love for the Indigo Girls, and how the ‘90s cult classic TV show Northern Exposure helped inspire the creation of Bon Iver.
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FKA Twigs and Rick Rubin dive deep into the creative journey that lead to Twigs’ stunning new album, Magdalene. They cover the physical and emotional trauma that inspired the album, how she found solace in the brilliant musicians she collaborated with on the record, and how FKA Twigs’ tireless attention to detail led her to make some of the most exciting music of her career.
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Flea sat with Malcolm Gladwell to discuss his newly released memoir, "Acid For the Children," for the very first live taping of Broken Record! The book is a journey through Flea's childhood: from Australia to the seedy streets of 1970's and 80's Los Angeles to the earliest incarnation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Flea brings his book to life in this intensely intimate conversation about his friendships with bandmates Anthony Kiedis and Hillel Slovak, the LA of his childhood and picks up the bass to walk through the evolution of his bass playing.
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Norah Jones sits with Malcolm Gladwell and Bruce Headlam at The Bridge Studio in New York to talk about — and play through — her latest album, Begin Again. The album is the result of a new way of working in the studio that's invigorated her. She discusses this new process, working with Jeff Tweedy and Danger Mouse and more! Oh, and her voice and playing are angelic.
Visit: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/ for more episodes!
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Leonard Cohen died three weeks after releasing his last record, You Want It Darker, in 2016. It was the first album he worked on this son, Adam. In mourning, Adam turned his attention to poem's of his father's that he recorded while putting that last record together. He then decided to set those poems to music. The result is Leonard Cohen's new album, Thanks for the Dace. Adam talks with Rick Rubin form Shangri La about his father's musical legacy, family life and how this album came together.
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Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney join Rick Rubin at Shangri La to talk about their first tour in five years, scalpers screwing fans out of tickets, their new album—"Let's Rock"—and play some never before heard songs from their vault. Visit https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/ to listen to our playlist for this episode
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Brandi Carlile grew up adoring Tanya Tucker for her rebellious spirit. But it's that same nature that almost derailed Tanya's comeback album, "While I'm Livin," co-produced by Brandi. Tanya quit the album multiple times during its making. Leaving Brandi no choice but to summon Rick Rubin to help right-ship. You'll hear this story and tons of great road stories from one of country music's living-legends and one of its fastest rising talents. Here's Brandi, Tanya and Rick from Shangri La in Malibu.
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Rick Rubin sits with 21 year old British songwriter Rex Orange County to discuss his major label debut, "Pony." While Rex is still mostly performs solo on the record (aside from some expert bass playing by Pino Palladino and some vocals courtesy of his girlfriend), the album is a departure from the DIY sound that earned him his following on his early, self-released records
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Wyclef Jean, who's had solo hits and with the Fugees, and produced hits for Destiny's Child, Shakira, and Carlos Santana came back this year with a new project, "Wyclef Goes Back To School." Every song is a collaboration with college-aged musicians—his way of giving back but also appealing to a whole new generation of kids. Host and producer Justin Richmond \talks to Wyclef about his latest effort, about his childhood in Haiti, moving to the U.S. and reflects on his own childhood listening to the Fugees.
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After years honing her craft in the UK Yola finally lands with her beautiful album, "Walk Through Fire." Produced by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, the album combines classic country, soul and rock and roll. Bruce Headlam talks to Yola about her journey to this album.
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Tyler, the Creator spent three days this summer in Italy with Rick Rubin. At the end of the three days they sat down to record a conversation about Tyler's new album, "Igor". They play through some tracks off the album and Tyler even plays some piano.
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Jack White and Brendan Benson of the Raconteurs play through some songs off their new record, "Help Me Stranger" and talk with Malcolm Gladwell from Jack's Detroit home. Rick Rubin joins by phone. Jack talks through his theory that references to modern technology don't work in modern Rock and Roll, what they've picked up as a band by living in Nashville, how perfect performances can sometimes be unconvincing, the songwriting process on the new record &amp; more!
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A Broken Record/Revisionist History crossover episode on cultural appropriation. The case study is Taco Bell. Oh, and Pat Boone is involved. And so is our old friend, Dave Hill.
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Vampire Weekend returned this month with their first record in six years, "Father of the Bride". And long before it sat on top of the Billboard album chart, the band's leader, Ezra Koenig and producer Ariel Rechtshaid stopped by Shangri La Studios in Malibu to talk with Malcolm and Rick. Ezra explained how he and Ariel have been laboring over the new album, re-working some songs hundreds of times before finally feeling like they got it right.
To listen to the full album, go to https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/
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Bruce Headlam discovered J.S. Ondara listening to his car radio late last year. And with a great showing at South By Southwest and a spot opening for Neil Young this summer, it seems like the rest of America is discovering him too. In this episode of Broken Record, J.S. Ondara talks about leaving his native Kenya six years ago for Minnesota — the home of his idol, Bob Dylan — and creating his debut album, "Tales of America".
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Linda Perry is one of the only women considered a go-to producer in the music industry.
After finding success with her band 4 Non Blondes and their ubiquitous single, "What's Up?" (1992) Perry went on to write and produce for other artists.
She’s worked with Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Adele, James Blunt, Britney Spears. And reinvented the careers of Pink and Christina Aguilera.
Most recently she wrote with and produced a Dolly Parton record for the Netflix movie Dumplin’ — which earned her a nomination for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical at this year's Grammys (she was the first woman nominated in 15 years).
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T Bone Burnett helped launch the careers of Los Lobos, Counting Crows, Gillian Welch; revive the careers of Roy Orbison and Robert Plant; course-correct Elvis Costello’s career in the mid-eighties and just recently produced a beautiful record by Sara Bareilles. Of course, there’s all of his film work as well. But while visiting Rick Rubin, himself a legendary producer and co-host of Broken Record, T Bone said he has stopped producing other artists. Instead he’s focusing on releasing his own music. "Invisible Light: Acoustic Space" an electronic infused song cycle was just released. T Bone says he has three double records ready to come out behind it. In this episode of Broken Record, from Shangri La Studios in Malibu, T Bone Burnett premiers two brand new songs on his acoustic guitar for us, talks about his pivot towards songwriting and chats about his famed career.
"Invisible Light: Acoustic Space" is available now wherever you get your music. To keep up to date on T Bone check out https://tboneburnett.com/.
Also check out our website - https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/ - follow us on Instagram - @TheBrokenRecordPod - and subscribe and rate us if you like what you hear!
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Malcolm Gladwell, along with guest-host, Daisy Rosario, talks with the five members of Pentatonix from GSI Studios in NYC. The quintet, who got their start on YouTube, discuss their approach to arranging a cappella versions of pop songs, writing original music, their collaboration with Dolly Parton and so much more! Pentatonix kick off their summer tour of the U.S. in Oakland this May 11. Go to http://ptxofficial.com/ for details and https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/ for a playlist of songs we've curated of the group!
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Lori McKenna, Liz Rose and Hillary Lidnsey—known as the Love Junkies—write some of the best songs in Nashville today. Between the three of them, they've helped launch Taylor Swift, pushed Lady Gaga into country music—with her album "Joanne"—and gave country music one of its more controversial hits: "Girl Crush." In this episode of Broken Record they give Malcolm a glimpse into their songwriting process and break down some of their more successful songs. To hear a playlist of our favorite Love Junkies songs visit https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/.
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Mary Gauthier is one of the most unique songwriters in Nashville. Forgoing the city's often conventional pop sound, Gauthier's songs are unafraid to probe into what she calls "the extremely personal." Gauthier talks to Bruce Headlam in this episode of Broken Record about getting her start as a songwriter in her 30's and co-writing her last album, "Rifles and Rosary Beads", with U.S. Military Veterans and their families. It's one of Malcolm Gladwell's favorite records of 2018 and here she performs three numbers from the album plus one from an older release, "Mercy Now."
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Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell talk with David Byrne (formerly of Talking Heads) about protest music: some of his favorite protest songs, the earliest ones he heard, how they affected his songwriting, and what makes them effective.
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Questlove talks about how he got involved with D’Angelo’s Voodoo record, the evolution of his drumming style, how he approaches DJ’ing, and tells the best Obama story ever. Part 2 of 2.
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Questlove talks about how he got involved with D’Angelo’s Voodoo record, the evolution of his drumming style, how he approaches DJ’ing, and tells the best Obama story ever. Part 1 of 2.
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For the season one finale of Broken Record, Malcolm Gladwell talks with Rick Rubin about Tom Petty, who died in October 2017 at the age of 66. Rubin and Petty worked together for two years on his beloved 1994 album “Wildflowers.” Rubin talks about Petty’s writing style, and how half the songs they recorded for Wildflowers ended up on the cutting room floor.
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Malcolm Gladwell sits down with comedian, guitarist, and legendary metalhead Dave Hill, as he recounts how an email exchange between his alter ego Lance and a Norwegian black metal impresario named Saiitham (pronounced “satan”) led to the formation of the darkest metal band of all time. Dave Hill also performs a mediocre rendition of “Hammer Smashed Face,” plus we debut his single "Are You Ready (to Black Metal)?"
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“She Remembers Everything” is the name of the latest Rosanne Cash album, the 14th of her amazing career. Rosanne and her husband and musical collaborator, John Leventhal, sit down with Broken Record’s Bruce Headlam to play songs from the album, talk about songwriting, her musical family and how “She Remembers Everything” grew out of today’s politics. They also perform cover versions of two American classics, “Long Black Veil” and “Farewell Angelina.”
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Malcolm Gladwell talks to three songwriters who helped transform country music in the 1970s. Gone were cowboy hats, train whistles and church suppers. In came songs about desperation, loss, changes, and regret that changed how Nashville made music and spoke to a new generation of audiences. Bobby Braddock, Don Schlitz and Don Henry talk about their influences, trade stories, and play acoustic versions of their classic hits.
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Elton John has called Rufus Wainwright “the greatest songwriter in the world today.” Broken Record’s Bruce Headlam sits down with Rufus in Los Angeles, where Rufus performs breathtaking solo versions of his songs “Poses” and “In My Arms” from his earliest albums. He also offers a new song, a lullaby for his young daughter. In conversation, he frankly discusses his crazy early life and the inspiration for his music, his move into opera and his relationship with Leonard Cohen, who is, among other things, the grandfather to Wainwright’s daughter. He also discusses his newest single, “Sword of Damocles,” which was inspired by Donald Trump and Carrie Fisher, and his upcoming tour, “All These Poses,” featuring songs from his first two albums. And after a four-year break, Rufus and his sister Martha are once again presenting their Christmas show “Noel Nights” at New York City’s Town Hall of December 16th. For more information, check out rufuswainwright.com.
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Nile Rodgers, the mastermind behind the disco band Chic and producer of artists like David Bowie, Daft Punk and Madonna, plays live with his band and talks about his life and long musical career in the very studio that was built for him to produce Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” album. Rodgers tells Broken Record’s Bruce Headlam about his chaotic childhood and how it led to his love of musical collaboration, how his love of jazz transformed the music of Chic, and he tells the hilarious story of Prince’s obsession with the song “Let’s Dance.” With his current version of Chic, Rodgers performs blistering versions of “Good Times,” “Le Freak,” “Everybody Dance,” “Let’s Dance” and his hit with Daft Punk, “Get Lucky.”
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Our introductory episode is a conversation between Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell, covering everything from Rick’s role in the very beginning of hip-hop to his role in introducing Johnny Cash to a new generation of writers, performers and music lovers. Rick and Malcolm delve deep into Rick’s back catalogue – which is really a history of contemporary music – to reveal more about the artists that defined a new era, and why they are still vital listening today.
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In the fall of 2017, Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, and Bruce Headlam sat down with Eminem and talked about his song 'Walk on Water', featuring Beyonce. That interview became the pilot episode of Broken Record.
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